Book Description
In this famous work by a pioneer in the movement to free art from the bonds of tradition — a work long considered essential to understanding the evolution of 20th-century art — Kandinsky explores the role of the line, point, and other key elements of non-objective painting. 127 illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
this book shows how you can assign meaning to many aspects of art.......2007-07-11
I think this book is useful for understanding Kandinsky's art but I think it is most useful for artists trying to form their own ideas about art. The reason for this is that in ascribing characteristics to many aspects of art for example lines curves and planes, the author makes us as artists think about how we use these aspects of art in our work. So, in other words, he gets you thinking about the meaning of all those marks on paper we make. I think most artists will find their own explanations of the various types of line, curve, color and plane, what this book does is give you the idea for doing so in the first place.
EXCELLENT SERVICE........2007-01-26
This item was received in a very timely , and in excellent condition.
indispensable.......2004-01-14
Este libro se ha convertido en el indispensable para los estudiantes de artes plásticas, nos define el punto, la linea y el plano desde muchos puntos de vista además de explicar la generación y desarrollo de los tres elementos básicos del arte visual.
Kandinsky Reveals Secrets of the Drawing Universe.......2001-05-30
Reading this book is like entering the sanctum sanctorum of mark making. It is a first class journey through the thought processes of a major 20th century innovator as he introduces, evaluates and places in relationship the elements of drawing and composition. While not for the faint of heart, Kandinsky writes with such endearing specificity about the exact function of each component (point, line, plane) the marks take on lives of their own. His simultaneous portrayal of the function of marks through words and the distillation of words through marks offers insights into the creative process for artists at every stage of development. The organization of the material is logical, as expected from a man who started out as a lawyer, as well as magical, coming from a man who ascribed to the spiritual in art. For all its apparent simplicity it is well worth the time to savor in small portions. I particularly like the layers of meaning to be found in his concepts. There is a cascading effect to reading a description, applying the principle to an art process and then revisiting the text to have further meaning reveal itself. He literally views drawing from the inside out.
Book Description
Pioneering work by the great modernist painter, considered by many to be the father of abstract art and a leader in the movement to free art from traditional bonds. Kandinsky's provocative thoughts on color theory and the nature of art. Analysis of Picasso, Matisse, and earlier masters. 12 illustrations.
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But despite their patent and well-ordered security, despite their infallible principles, there lurks in these higher segments a hidden fear, a nervous trembling, a sense of insecurity. And this is due to their upbringing. They know that the sages, statesmen and artists whom today they revere, were yesterday spurned as swindlers and charlatans.
Customer Reviews:
"to break the bonds which bind". . . "to an impoverishment of possibility".......2007-06-27
Kandinsky had risen to positions of influence in other disciplines (political science/economics and law) before directing his considerable intellect to painting. His insights extended into the historic 'meta' trends of the arts and sciences, including the physical sciences, and had his interests had been directed to the history and philosophy of science instead of the history and philosophy of art, he might have written Kuhn's observations regarding paradigm change a half century before Kuhn did: "Here and there are people with eyes which can see, minds which can correlate. They say to themselves: 'If the science of the day before yesterday is rejected by the people of yesterday, and that of yesterday by us of today, is it not possible that what we call science now will be rejected by the men of tomorrow?' And the bravest of them answer, 'It is possible.'"
Instead, Kandinsky extended the frontiers of painting and authored philosophic writings on the future of art that are among the most important of such works. M.T.H. Sadler, who translated this work into English, was a friend of Kandinsky's and was among his early admirers. The notes he has written in the front of the book (Translator's Introduction) are therefore more helpful than could be the opinions of many other critics, including myself:
"Anyone who has studied Gauguin will be aware of the intense spiritual value of his work. The man is a preacher and a psychologist, universal by his very unorthodoxy, fundamental because he goes deeper than civilization. In his disciples this great element is wanting.
"Kandinsky has supplied the need. He is not only on the track of an art more purely spiritual than was conceived even by Gauguin, but he has achieved the final abandonment of all representative intention. In this way he combines in himself the spiritual and technical tendencies of one great branch of Post-Impressionism.
"The question most generally asked about Kandinsky's art is: 'What is he trying to do?' It is to be hoped that this book will do something towards answering the question. But it will not do everything. This--partly because it is impossible to put into words the whole of Kandinsky's ideal, partly because in his anxiety to state his case, to court criticism, the author has been tempted to formulate more than is wise. His analysis of colours and their effects on the spectator is not the real basis of his art, because, if it were, one could, with the help of a scientific manual, describe one's emotions before his pictures with perfect accuracy. And this is impossible.
"Kandinsky is painting music. That is to say, he has broken down the barrier between music and painting, and has isolated the pure emotion which, for want of a better name, we call the artistic emotion. Anyone who has listened to good music with any enjoyment will admit to an unmistakable but quite indefinable thrill. He will not be able, with sincerity, to say that such a passage gave him such visual impressions, or such a harmony roused in him such emotions. The effect of music is too subtle for words. And the same with this painting of Kandinsky's. Speaking for myself, to stand in front of some of his drawings or pictures gives a keener and more spiritual pleasure than any other kind of painting. But I could not express in the least what gives the pleasure. Presumably the lines and colours have the same effect as harmony and rhythm in music have on the truly musical. That psychology comes in no one can deny."
Some aspects of Kandinsky's color theory are dubious, at best they cannot be universalized, and Kandinsky sees this. But other of his ideas and arguments are widely accepted among artists, even as being self-evident. Stating that "there is no 'must' in art, because art is free," that is, free to address external representations OR "the inner need," to merely chase after material 'objects' OR to wrestle with the mysteriously spiritual, to somehow meld the two visions OR to stay purely to exploration of the spiritual high ground, Kandinsky absolutely rejects the materialistic expectation of an art "explanation" that has been articulated by EO Wilson in his unfortunate daydream 'Consilience' (Wilson knows ants better than he knows humans, and is given to understanding humans to be essentially ant equivalents).
Anyone interested in art history, painting of the past century, or the relationships/correlations/divergences of the various arts (visual, musical, literary), as well as anyone interested in the meaning and purpose of art, or in the philosophy of aesthetics, should read this important book, perhaps more than once.
Amazing.......2007-01-04
Kandinsky throws his ideas out in a slightly esoteric manner. It make take a few rereads to really grasp the quality of discourse he presents. But, in the end, his commentary shines brightly through his comparisons of music to painting. The spiritual triangle is comparable to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It is important to remember that Kandinsky is not using the term "spiritual" in a religious sense.
This book is a very good read for anyone feeling slumped in their art making. And for anyone who wants to expose themselves to ways of thinking about art. By the third time I had read the material I had underlined and highlighted almost every line and filled all the margins with notes. The book is fantastic. It is especially good when paired with Hans Hofmann's essay "In Search for the Real." Although the ideas in the two books do not parallel. In fact the lines aren't even on the same page. Kandinksky's critiques of other familiar artists are very interesting too. Names like picasso and Cezanne pop up quite a bit.
I'll stop rambling now. Read the book, it is very good.
A fine attention to artistic reflection and analysis........2006-11-06
Wassilly Kadinsky was a 20th century painter and his CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL IN ART provides a blend of philosophical, spiritual and artistic reflection as it examines the premises and presence of spirituality in art. This new edition is a recommended pick not just for art students of modernism, but for readers of spiritual works: it includes letters between Kadinsky and Sadler, unpublished prose poems, and a fine attention to artistic reflection and analysis.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Good,but very deep.......2005-08-13
I enjoyed reading the book. At times it was over my head,but still it was worth the effort!!!!
Kandinsky, father of abstract art.......2005-07-22
Concerning the Spiritual in Art is the seminal work that destroys the Formalist myth of "art for art's sake" generally held by those who came of age before the 1980s. Kandinsky and his contemporary compatriot Malevich were fervent revolutionaries. While Marxist Leninism saw all human endeavor in terms of dialectical materialism, the Russian avant garde painters undermined Western Civilization on the spiritual level by attacking the very nature of reality. Abstract art, as explained by Kandinsky, is not, as was generally taught, a simple arrangement of lines shapes and colors in a harmonious pattern on canvas, but an attempt to attain and depict a divine gnosis. Kandinsky sets forth in Concerning the Spiritual in art his Oriental Theosophy based on the writings of occultist Madame Helena Blavatsky rather than Judaism or Christianity, both of which religions he openly dispised. Though the writer of this review disagrees strongly with the author's ideology, Concerning the Spiritual in Art is highly recommended to all serious students of both art and religion. Hamilton Reed Armstrong, AGDEI ART
Book Description
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) pioneered abstract art and is a key figure in the history of modernism. This groundbreaking, fully illustrated study of Kandinsky's formative years follows his move from figurative painting to abstraction.
Inspired in his early years by folklore scenes from Russia and the heightened colors of the landscape of southern Germany, he want on to co-found the Expressionist Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) group of painters with Gabriele Münter, Alexej Jawlensky, and Franz Marc. Gradually he stripped away the descriptive detail in his painting, hiding visual imagery behind fields of bright color encompassed by strong lines. He felt that what he had discovered was a path to a new spiritual reality, more akin to music than the physical world.
Customer Reviews:
A fairly good catalogue.......2007-04-04
Not the most complete book on Kandinsky, this catalogue for a recent exhibition held at the Tate Gallery in London is however a good study that enables the reader to see some works which are not often exhibited outside Russia. There are not that many publications in English on Kandinsky, therefore this one is a good option.
Customer Reviews:
Good introduction to Kandinsky.......2006-07-15
This brief book gives a good introduction to Kandinsky for beginners. It gives a general vision of his life and works, with clear information about the different phases in his art, and good reproductions of many of his main works. Of course, it does not contain in-depth information, but it can be a good starting point.
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Kandinsky 2007 Calendar
Manufacturer: Te Neues Pub Group (Cal)
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Modern Art 2007 Wall Calendar
ASIN: 3832717099 |
Customer Reviews:
Calendar Joy.......2007-01-10
I live in a small town and have a hard time getting deals. This was a huge bargain, about a quarter of the regular price and excellent quality.
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Schoenberg, Kandinsky and the Blue Rider
Fred Wasserman
Manufacturer: Scala Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Concerning the Spiritual in Art
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Franz Marc: The Retrospective
ASIN: 185759312X |
Customer Reviews:
Great collection.......2006-10-02
This is a great book outlining the relationship between a great painter and a great composer. It includes a CD of music and many great plates of paintings by Kandinsky, Schoenberg, and other members of the Blue Rider. It originally an exhibit at the Jewish Museum in NYC. If you are interested in the careers of either of these men, you should enjoy this book.
Book Description
Essay by Magdalena Dabrowski. Foreword by Richard E. Oldenburg.
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- A Rare and Wonderful Soundscape
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Sounds
Wassily Kandinsky
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
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Binding: Paperback
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Concerning the Spiritual in Art
ASIN: 0300026641 |
Customer Reviews:
A Rare and Wonderful Soundscape.......2000-02-16
There are and have been, of course, other poets who pay a heavy devotion to the aural aspects of their work in sacrifice of a literarily traceable constructed set of metaphor and message. Cummings comes immediately to mind. However, to my knowledge (and please write me if you can add any) there are none that create such a level of intrigue and pleasure so simply with such mundane tools. Here Kandinsky shows us the incredible wealth of metaphor and depth in the utterly everyday. To so deftly focus our interest on small phrases, a "hello," a "goodbye," is very difficult to achieve without appearing melodramatic and obvious. These are simple poems for thoughtful people. (As opposed, I suppose, to thoughtless poems for simpletons?)
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Kandinsky Drawings: Volume 1
Vivian Endicott Barnet
Manufacturer: Philip Wilson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0856676225
Release Date: 2007-01-09 |
Book Description
The first volume of the catalogue raisonné comprises 1236 works from all periods of Vasily Kandinsky's career. It begins with an addendum of fifteen watercolors and two oil-paintings, which were not included in the previous four volumes of the catalogue raisonné, followed by India ink drawings, sketches and individual works. There is complete provenance, exhibition history and bibliography for each catalogue entry as well as numerous commentaries discussing date, iconography and related works. Vivian Barnett has written a text on the artist's discovery of his own drawings in the early 1930s and his efforts to exhibit them during his lifetime. The volume concludes with a comprehensive list of one-person and group exhibitions, a selective bibliography and indexes. A second volume, which is devoted to Kandinsky's thirty-five sketchbooks that have remained intact, will appear in spring 2007.
Customer Reviews:
Kandinsky, Complete Writings on Art.......2007-03-09
A densely translated book. A must have reference for any artist's library.
An essential rendering of the artistic machinery........2006-08-06
This book deserves a commanding coign of vantage on the shelf of any reader desiring a deeper understanding of the creative process. In extending its reach beyond the requisite inclusion of Kandinsky's On the Spiritual in Art and Point and Line to Plane, the work embraces nearly 900 pages of life-giving insight by the master and driving force of nonobjective art.
To cast a light on any one Kandinsky commentary is to risk a plunge of the whole into shadow. We nevertheless salute in general the author's reflections on his fellow artists, for as Kandinsky finds characteristics to praise he provides a refreshing view of art's operating mechanisms. To select but a single example, in a charming commentary on the paintings of musician Arnold Schoenberg the author skewers the popular idea that an artist achieves full realization through a discovery of a "corresponding form" recognizable to all comers. In fact, it is the very discovery of what Kandinsky calls a "dying form" which is to the artist "fatal." As for the converse, the artist who produces an ever-changing series of works representing in their form the development of a more sensitive and robust inner soul discovers, ironically, his works condemned for a lack of stylistic conformance. And so, says Kandinsky, "the dead passes for the living, and vice versa." Schoenberg, the author assures us, is one of the living for in each of his disparate works "the inner desire of the artist speaks forth in a form appropriate to it."
If Kandinsky's control of the linguistic levers fails to rise to a degree of calibration one imagines appropriate to the vital topic, and if the author very often satisfies himself with the bold proposition which arrests the reader and inspires a healthy suspicion as to a deliberate reduction of the author's encircling vision, his conclusions are fired by a robust soul attuned to the finest strands of the real, and it only remains to add that in terms of abstraction this work must to the archway of understanding provide a requisite keystone.
Modern Art: A Wealth of Primary Sources.......2004-01-11
This book is as thorough of a collection of writings by an individual as you will ever find. Including every major treatise, essay, and book by Kandisky, it goes a few steps further with every Kandisky poem (English and German translations) and play. Moreover, the book includes innumerable pamphlets and the like from the earlier late-Expressionist exhibits; also incorporated are several corrspondances between Kandinsky and contemporaries, particularly atonal composer Arnold Schoenburg--illuminating how each other's theories were mutually related and held a reciprocal influence. A little known fact, Schoenburg himself was a non-objective painter--photos of his works are among these pages, as well! Before each section is a contextual introduction to that particular writing. And much much more.
Indispensable.......1999-03-22
An obligatory text for any visual, aural, or literary artist, and a necessity for any true understanding of the nature of artistic creation.
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